Special commemoration held for Anderson clinic

  • 2015-02-27
The Anderson Free Clinic recently celebrated its 30th anniversary at the Bleckley Inn in downtown Anderson.

The clinic opened in December 1984 in a house owned by St. John’s United Methodist Church. A walk-in closet served as pharmacy and the United Way of Anderson County provided a grant of $6,000 for the budget. It opened soon after the textile mills were closed for those who needed medical care but either had no insurance or were underinsured.

A small group of people in the community gathered at the office of the local health department to start the clinic. Community activist Ray Coffee was instrumental in getting the clinic off the ground by going to his church for help, and then to doctors’ offices to collect medication samples. Coffee knew just about everyone in Anderson and advocated tirelessly for the clinic.

According to Maureen Sartini, the first director of the clinic, there were six people working at the clinic on its first day and Dr. Harry Morse was the clinic’s first physician. Barb Baptista, the current director of the clinic, says the clinic now has about 150 volunteer doctors, with Morse still being one of them.

Most likely, the Clinic has turned to various printing companies over the years to Print Brochures and other materials with more information about the clinic and the services that it provides to the community.
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